MLB.com Twins beat reporter Rhett Bollinger keeps you up to date on all Twins news

Twins host first official workouts of spring

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Twins hosted their first official workouts of Spring Training today, as pitchers and catchers participated in several drills on the first day of camp.

It began early in the morning with a catchers meeting with manager Ron Gardenhire before he addressed all of the players currently in camp for the first official team meeting. Gardenhire said he kept it simple, as he plans on going through a more structured meeting once the rest of the team reports on Friday with the first full workouts set for Saturday morning.

After the meeting, the players broke up into different groups with 16 pitchers throwing bullpen sessions and the others playing catch. The pitchers also participated in pitchers fielding practice (PFP) drills and ran in the outfield at Hammond Stadium.

The nine catchers on the roster went over signs early in the morning with Gardenhire before catching bullpens and taking batting practice later in the day.

Here are some other notes:

— Harden felt encouraged by his first bullpen and says he hopes to stay on the same plan as all the other pitchers in camp but has to see how his shoulder holds up. He said he hasn’t been told if he’ll be stretched out to start but is open to starting or relieving.

— Infielders such as Jamey Carroll, Brian Dozier and Trevor Plouffe and outfielders such as Chris Parmelee, Aaron Hicks, Joe Benson and Darin Mastroianni all took part in informal workouts even though position players aren’t required to report until Friday.

— Ron Gardenhire said he plans on using a few younger players in games to get ready for the World Baseball Classic such as Berrios (Puerto Rico), Andrew Albers (Canada) and Eddie Rosario (Puerto Rico)

— Joe Mauer talked about preparing for both the World Baseball Classic and the upcoming season in this story.

— Make sure to check out my Instagram account (rhettbollinger) for photos throughout the spring and during the season. I also uploaded a few videos to my Twitter feed (@rhettbollinger)

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